State NEW ENGLAND WEEKLY CROP WEATHER Week ending date 09/26/04 Issue NH-CW3704 Volume 24, Number 23 (issued weekly on the Internet, May - October) September 27, 2004 - 4 pm -- Agricultural Summary Outstanding Week for Fall Harvest For the week ending September 26, 2004, there were 6.6 days available for field work across New England. Topsoil moisture was rated 6 percent short, 84 percent adequate, 10 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture was rated 5 percent short, 87 percent adequate, 8 percent surplus. Pasture condition was rated 9 percent poor, 31 percent fair, 47 percent good, 13 percent excellent. Excellent week to catch up with fall harvest activities. Sunny skies and dry conditions made ideal weather conditions for producers across New England. Major farm activities included: applying cover crops; disking; spreading manure; applying lime; chopping corn; cutting haylage and making dry hay; harvesting corn silage, apples, peaches, pears, small grains, potatoes, sweet corn and other vegetables; finishing harvest of broadleaf tobacco SOIL MOISTURE ACROSS NEW ENGLAND --------------------------------------------- -- Percent -- Soil Rating This Week Last Week Last Year --------------------------------------------- Topsoil Moisture Very Short 0 0 0 Short 6 3 6 Adequate 84 67 67 Surplus 10 30 27 Subsoil Moisture Very Short 0 0 1 Short 5 3 15 Adequate 87 70 76 Surplus 8 27 8 --------------------------------------------- -- Field Crops Report The harvest pace for fall crops picked up last week as producers had another outstanding week for harvest activities. Farmers were busy making hay as weather conditions have been ideal for harvest. Field corn harvest jumped to 40 percent chopped by week's end. Maine potato harvest advanced to 30 percent complete and crop yields were reported as excellent. Oat and barley harvest were almost complete with crop conditions reported as fair to good. Broadleaf tobacco harvest came to an end last week and reports indicated the crop has cured very well in the barns this year. -- Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty Crops Report FRUIT: Apple harvest is in full swing. Harvest passed the half-way mark with 60 percent of the crop picked. U-Pik apple farms had plenty of sunny days to entice pickers to the orchards during the week. Massachusetts cranberry growers had their first water harvest last week, with dry harvest volume steadily increasing. Cranberry specialist report a quality crop has been harvested to date with good color. Pear and fall raspberries harvest continued as peach harvest is winding down. VEGETABLES: Consumer demand remains high for all vegetables at markets and farm stands. Growers continued to harvest the last of their vegetables such as cabbage, winter squashes, kale, and pumpkins. Sweet corn harvest is nearly complete with just 5 percent of the crop left to be harvested. -- Crop Progress Tables FIELD CROP PROGRESS ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ---------------------------------------------------- Crop 2004 2003 5-yr Avg Condition ---------------------------------------------------- -- Percent Harvested -- Barley, ME 95 95 90 Fair/Good Oats, ME 95 90 90 Fair/Good Potatoes: Maine 30 45 35 Good/Excel Mass 70 55 65 Good Rhode Isl 95 90 80 Good/Excel Silage Corn 40 45 45 Good Sweet Corn 95 95 95 Good/Excel Tobacco: Broadleaf 100 100 100 Good Dry Hay: Second Cut 95 95 95 Good Third Cut 70 75 75 Good/Excel ----------------------------------------------------- FRUIT CROP DEVELOPMENT ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ----------------------------------------------------- -- Percent Harvested -- Crop 2004 2003 5-yr Avg Condition ----------------------------------------------------- Apples 60 60 55 Good/Excel Peaches 99 95 95 Good/Fair Pears 75 45 50 Good Cranberries,MA <5 10 10 Good/Fair ----------------------------------------------------- -- Weather Summary For the week ending Sunday, September 12 2004 ---------------------------------------------- AIR TEMPERATURES PRECIPITATION STATE LO HI AVG DFN LO HI ---- --- --- --- --- ---- ---- ME 30 82 56 +3 0.00 0.25 NH 27 85 57 +4 0.00 0.73 VT 29 81 57 +4 0.00 0.32 MA 35 82 61 +3 0.00 0.02 RI 41 80 63 +3 0.00 0.02 CT 30 84 62 +2 0.00 0.05 ---------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004: AWIS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. -- Weather Information Table For the Period: Monday September 20, 2004 To: Sunday September 26, 2004 AIR CUM SINCE MAR 1 TEMPERATURE GROWING DEGREE DAYS ----------- BASE-50F BASE-60F STATION LO HI AVG DFN TOT DFN TOT DFN ------- -- -- -- -- --- ---- --- ---- MAINE Albion 38 76 55 -2 1744 -345 567 -221 Allagash 30 77 49 -2 1148 -181 270 -53 Augusta_State_A 44 78 60 +5 1999 -18 721 -25 Bangor_Intl_Arp 40 76 59 +4 1901 +62 685 +63 Barnard 36 75 56 +4 1572 +4 460 +8 Bath 41 76 57 +2 1761 -134 579 -81 Bethel 37 79 58 +4 1816 +4 576 -20 Brassua_Dam 37 76 55 +4 1322 +24 312 +2 Brunswick_ME 44 73 60 +4 1980 +85 702 +42 Caribou_Municip 35 73 53 +3 1455 +25 441 +63 Corinna 40 78 58 +5 1789 +64 599 +59 Danforth 37 74 54 +2 1461 -208 394 -131 Dover-Foxcroft 36 75 56 +4 1480 -88 418 -34 Durham 39 74 56 -2 1749 -404 554 -287 East_Hiram 36 77 56 +2 1705 -99 518 -72 Eustis 37 74 54 +4 1223 -36 262 -21 Frenchville 36 74 54 +4 1344 +15 376 +53 Gray 44 78 61 +6 2073 +204 767 +130 Greenville_ME 43 75 57 +5 1901 +320 690 +227 Guilford 36 74 55 +3 1259 -309 289 -163 Hollis 37 80 57 +3 1817 +94 602 +70 Houlton 30 72 52 +2 1508 +14 482 +58 Kennebunkport 39 74 57 -3 1644 -650 481 -454 Livermore_Falls 36 82 57 +5 1882 +345 665 +236 Moosehead 38 76 55 +5 1317 +19 304 -6 New_Sharon 39 79 57 +6 1727 +190 529 +100 Patten 37 74 54 +4 1400 -94 362 -62 Portage 38 74 52 +2 1405 -25 405 +27 Portland_ME 43 78 61 +6 1978 +109 724 +87 Rangeley 35 76 55 +5 1351 +125 312 +48 Sebec_Lake 38 76 56 +4 1573 -8 466 +3 Vanceboro 36 73 54 +2 1486 -122 417 -61 Waterville 43 78 59 +2 1880 -209 651 -137 NEW_HAMPSHIRE Barnstead 34 77 56 +1 1888 -131 657 -82 Benton 38 75 56 +3 1722 +67 523 +47 Berlin_AG 38 76 56 +4 1743 +82 543 +46 Bethlehem 31 77 55 +2 1567 -85 455 -21 Concord 34 81 61 +5 2369 +350 984 +245 Diamond_Pond 34 71 52 +3 1124 +21 201 -4 First_Conn_Lake 30 74 52 +4 1187 +84 241 +36 Greenville 38 84 61 +6 2355 +528 965 +380 Keene_AP 36 79 60 +3 2233 -34 856 -55 Lakeport 42 79 60 +6 2247 +368 895 +250 Marlow 33 74 54 -3 1557 -495 417 -330 Mount_Washingto 27 58 44 +7 152 +91 2 +2 North_Conway 36 78 58 +4 2006 +142 729 +96 Otter_Brook_Lk 38 77 59 +2 2094 -173 756 -155 Plymouth 35 79 57 +5 1757 +124 533 +56 Rochester 40 81 60 +4 2096 -78 799 -49 Weare 41 78 60 +3 2055 +3 732 -15 VERMONT Ball_Mt_Lake 32 78 56 +1 1807 +46 545 -6 Bethel 35 78 57 +3 1902 +229 647 +143 Burlington_Intl 38 78 62 +6 2320 +173 963 +122 East_Haven 29 78 55 +5 1634 +262 496 +159 Island_Pond 32 76 56 +5 1594 +232 459 +134 Montpelier 35 77 59 +6 1929 +245 668 +156 Morrisville_AG 33 78 55 +3 1687 +8 546 +30 Mount_Mansfield 36 69 53 +7 778 +67 75 +9 Northfield 35 80 57 +5 1813 +283 592 +170 Pownal 39 75 58 +3 2014 +247 667 +115 Rochester 36 81 58 +5 1908 +235 634 +130 Rutland_AG 36 75 57 +0 1995 -244 694 -195 Sunderland 34 77 56 -1 1853 -292 580 -232 Sutton 35 76 55 +5 1562 +190 429 +92 Townshend_Lake 38 77 59 +3 2049 -75 710 -109 Union_Vill_Dam 34 80 58 +2 1983 -157 717 -109 MASSACHUSETTS Ashburnham 39 79 60 +6 2214 +386 848 +250 Boston/Logan_In 48 81 65 +4 2704 +58 1264 +62 Greenfield 39 81 62 +3 2402 -43 983 -54 New_Bedford 43 80 61 -3 2431 -254 1026 -211 Otis_AFB 45 79 60 +1 2359 +185 1001 +147 Plymouth 44 80 61 +2 2350 +125 999 +106 Walpole 44 81 63 +6 2525 +297 1096 +212 West_Medway 43 82 62 +5 2527 +299 1094 +210 Chicopee/Westov 36 81 62 -1 2670 -141 1194 -129 Worcester 44 76 63 +6 2401 +321 984 +210 Worthington 35 78 59 +3 1945 +136 638 +63 RHODE_ISLAND Providence 48 80 64 +4 2743 +221 1267 +155 Woonsocket 41 80 62 +4 2489 +295 1068 +226 CONNECTICUT Bakersville 37 74 58 -3 2120 -569 749 -482 Bridgeport/Siko 47 84 68 +6 2973 +244 1465 +174 Hartford/Bradle 39 81 64 +4 2849 +167 1353 +127 Norfolk 40 73 59 +4 2102 +298 745 +172 Norwich 42 82 62 +2 2708 +189 1230 +140 Thomaston_Dam 37 81 60 +3 2665 +484 1189 +357 Willimantic 39 80 62 +4 2576 +349 1117 +252 1-WEEK PRECIP 4-WEEK CUM PRECIP ------------- ----------------- TOTAL TOTAL STATION INCHES DFN DAYS INCHES DFN DAYS ------- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- MAINE Albion 0.11 -0.66 1 3.36 +0.32 7 Allagash 0.00 -0.83 0 3.45 -0.03 6 Augusta_State_A 0.03 -0.74 1 3.68 +0.79 8 Bangor_Intl_Arp 0.09 -0.68 1 2.97 -0.23 9 Barnard 0.07 -0.84 2 2.41 -1.23 10 Bath 0.00 -0.70 0 3.26 +0.46 5 Bethel 0.24 -0.53 1 3.13 -0.02 7 Brassua_Dam 0.00 -0.84 0 2.52 -0.88 8 Brunswick_ME 0.00 -0.70 0 3.43 +0.63 4 Caribou_Municip 0.04 -0.73 1 3.75 +0.49 9 Corinna 0.10 -0.74 1 3.01 -0.43 6 Danforth 0.06 -0.74 1 4.44 +1.04 11 Dover-Foxcroft 0.00 -0.91 0 2.28 -1.36 6 Durham 0.00 -0.70 0 3.74 +0.94 6 East_Hiram 0.01 -0.72 1 3.46 +0.54 6 Eustis 0.15 -0.55 1 3.15 +0.26 9 Frenchville 0.07 -0.76 1 5.05 +1.57 11 Gray 0.00 -0.76 0 3.50 +0.64 5 Greenville_ME 0.06 -0.85 1 6.06 +2.42 10 Guilford 0.16 -0.75 2 3.07 -0.57 12 Hollis 0.00 -0.77 0 4.39 +1.36 6 Houlton 0.06 -0.73 1 4.52 +1.11 11 Kennebunkport 0.00 -0.77 0 4.59 +1.72 9 Livermore_Falls 0.20 -0.60 1 2.60 -0.78 8 Moosehead 0.03 -0.81 1 2.04 -1.36 10 New_Sharon 0.14 -0.66 1 2.53 -0.85 8 Patten 0.03 -0.76 2 4.69 +1.28 14 Portage 0.02 -0.75 1 3.91 +0.65 11 Portland_ME 0.00 -0.76 0 3.41 +0.55 5 Rangeley 0.25 -0.45 1 3.27 +0.31 9 Sebec_Lake 0.05 -0.86 1 2.29 -1.35 8 Vanceboro 0.05 -0.86 1 4.01 +0.39 11 Waterville 0.11 -0.66 1 5.88 +2.84 8 NEW_HAMPSHIRE Barnstead 0.00 -0.63 0 5.18 +2.55 7 Benton 0.00 -0.70 0 3.60 +0.60 6 Berlin_AG 0.19 -0.51 3 3.61 +0.50 9 Bethlehem 0.42 -0.28 1 5.39 +2.34 10 Concord 0.00 -0.63 0 6.22 +3.59 7 Diamond_Pond 0.27 -0.60 2 3.85 +0.04 10 First_Conn_Lake 0.73 -0.14 3 4.51 +0.70 12 Greenville 0.00 -0.70 0 5.19 +2.24 5 Keene_AP 0.00 -0.65 0 4.37 +1.54 6 Lakeport 0.00 -0.68 0 3.98 +1.21 6 Marlow 0.00 -0.77 0 5.01 +1.88 7 Mount_Washingto 0.37 -1.26 1 8.89 +1.90 10 North_Conway 0.03 -0.75 2 4.10 +0.90 11 Otter_Brook_Lk 0.00 -0.65 0 6.39 +3.56 7 Plymouth 0.00 -0.70 0 3.22 +0.31 7 Rochester 0.00 -0.77 0 5.51 +2.52 6 Weare 0.00 -0.77 0 5.24 +2.11 7 VERMONT Ball_Mt_Lake 0.02 -0.82 1 6.25 +2.69 7 Bethel 0.00 -0.84 0 4.23 +0.65 6 Burlington_Intl 0.32 -0.38 1 5.67 +2.54 7 East_Haven 0.20 -0.54 1 4.16 +0.89 9 Island_Pond 0.13 -0.57 1 4.81 +1.59 11 Montpelier 0.01 -0.62 1 3.50 +0.78 10 Morrisville_AG 0.08 -0.69 1 3.24 -0.13 10 Mount_Mansfield 0.24 -1.09 1 8.27 +2.41 9 Northfield 0.00 -0.70 0 3.34 +0.32 6 Pownal 0.30 -0.54 1 6.70 +3.14 7 Rochester 0.00 -0.84 0 4.60 +1.02 6 Rutland_AG 0.00 -0.77 0 3.83 +0.45 6 Sunderland 0.00 -0.76 0 4.07 +0.76 8 Sutton 0.20 -0.54 1 4.73 +1.46 10 Townshend_Lake 0.00 -0.71 0 7.75 +4.65 7 Union_Vill_Dam 0.11 -0.66 1 3.97 +0.89 9 MASSACHUSETTS Ashburnham 0.00 -0.65 0 6.74 +4.02 10 Boston/Logan_In 0.00 -0.70 0 5.11 +2.25 7 Greenfield 0.02 -0.75 1 5.55 +2.35 6 New_Bedford 0.01 -0.74 1 3.11 -0.11 5 Otis_AFB 0.00 -0.82 0 4.94 +1.81 7 Plymouth 0.00 -0.91 0 3.32 -0.53 9 Walpole 0.00 -0.84 0 3.96 +0.48 9 West_Medway 0.00 -0.84 0 4.93 +1.45 7 Chicopee/Westov 0.00 -0.79 0 3.36 +0.05 7 Worcester 0.00 -0.98 0 5.27 +1.55 8 Worthington 0.00 -0.84 0 6.40 +2.96 8 RHODE_ISLAND Providence 0.02 -0.75 1 4.02 +0.75 11 Woonsocket 0.00 -0.84 0 4.79 +1.23 10 CONNECTICUT Bakersville 0.00 -0.84 0 6.46 +2.90 9 Bridgeport/Siko 0.00 -0.70 0 4.52 +1.65 9 Hartford/Bradle 0.00 -0.84 0 5.25 +1.69 9 Norfolk 0.00 -0.91 0 6.65 +2.76 7 Norwich 0.00 -0.90 0 7.55 +3.92 8 Thomaston_Dam 0.00 -0.91 0 4.23 +0.46 9 Willimantic 0.00 -0.91 0 4.81 +1.15 9 Summary based on NWS data. DFN = Departure From Normal (Using 1961-90 Normals Period). Precipitation (rain or melted snow/ice) in inches. Precipitation Days = Days with precip of 0.01 inch or more. Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. Copyright 2004: AWIS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. For detailed ag weather forecasts and data visit the AWIS home page at www.awis.com or call toll free at 1-888-798-9955. -- Other Agricultural Comments and News CONNECTICUT - Howard Rood (FSA), Fairfield/Litchfield: Farmers continue to harvest field corn for silage. Most fields look very good. Ross Eddy (FSA), Hartford/Tolland: Beautiful, dry week for harvesting crops. Crops progressing nicely. Dawn Pindell (FSA), Windham: A terrific week for chopping corn, picking apples, seeding rye, spreading manure, and selling mums. Corn production is averaging over 24 tons per acre. Irrigating sod seedlings on Sunday. Farmers are stretched with harvesting hay, corn, and getting the rest of the chores done. Richard Meinert (Ext), CT Cooperative: Corn harvest is progressing as quickly as corn will dry down. Many fields are being opened and then the choppers move on as the center corn is still too wet to harvest. Cold nights have taken a toll on the warm season grasses and pastures and hay lots have dropped dramatically in production and quality. MAINE - Marvin Hedstrom, Northern Aroostook: Potatoes and small grains: Great weather for harvesting crops. Potato harvest moving along at a rapid pace. In fact, a few growers have stopped harvesting due to immature tubers. There area a few reports of quality issues. Grain harvest just about complete. Potato yields are very good. Pam Hickey (Ext), Central Aroostook: A terrific week for chopping corn, picking apples, seeding rye, spreading manure, selling mums. Corn production is averaging over 24 tons per acre. Irrigating sod seedlings on Sunday. Farmers are stretched harvesting hay, corn and getting the rest of the chores done. Albert Dow (NRCS), Piscataquis: Potato harvest is in full swing. Silage corn is beginning to dent. Roadside stands are flourishing. Donna Lamb (Ext), Piscataquis: Corn silage harvest has started. Pastures are a little dry. Apple harvest is in full swing. Rick Kersbergen (Ext), Waldo: Beautiful September weather has allowed for more haylage and corn silage harvest. Trudy Soucy (FSA), Knox/Lincoln: Harvest of corn silage underway. A lot of farmers cutting second crop of hay. Fall crops now available at farm stands. Quality of corn crop is going to be down due to growing conditions. Hay quality is also down. Michael Tardy (FSA), Androscoggin: Harvest is in full swing. This past weekend, farmers were using the great weather to get the corn silage off the ground and into the silo. Hay farmers were rolling the newly cut grass or baling those rectangular bales for storage. Every farmer is in the harvest mode and enjoying the great weather. Sandy Truslow (FSA), Cumberland/York: Great weather continued this past week. Farmers were busy making hay and harvesting pumpkins. Corn silage growers are reporting a good crop and are planning to start harvest soon. Gary Raymond (FSA), Franklin: Best weather of the summer!!! Great week for Farmington Fair. No frost yet. Corn silage harvest started. Lots of apples & pumpkins for sale. Guy Piper (FSA), Kennebec: Moisture for both top soil and sub soil are good. MASSACHUSETTS - Arthur Williams (FSA), Berkshire: Corn harvesting hampered from very wet grounds. Farmers picked the dry parts of fields and cut a lot of silage. Some of the grain corn growers are looking and hoping that they will have the corn dry enough to make the picking a good quality. Some hay was being made. Still a good supply of veggies. Squash producers are harvesting in full swing, sizes above average. Frank Caruso (Ext), Plymouth: Cranberries: First water harvesting occurred last week, with dry harvesting increasing in volume. Good crops being harvested to date, with good quality and color. Harvesting will significantly increase this coming week. No frost nights, although cool for the most part. John Devine (FSA), Franklin: Excellent weather all week allowed the corn and potato harvest to move along at a rapid pace. Yields for both crops are very good this year! Pumpkins and winter squash are also being harvested quickly as producers try to beat disease pressure and the threat of frost. Hay farmers couldn't be happier with the weather that we had last week. All farms brought in some beautiful rowen. Ted Smiarowski, Jr. (FSA), Hampshire/Hampden: The week was beautiful with lots of sunny fall days. Harvesting an excellent fall crop of apples, silage corn, potatoes, cabbage, mums and Indian corn. Due to heavy rains in the past week the winter squash and the pumpkin crops are not holding up in storage very well per many growers. The broadleaf tobacco crop cured very well in the barns this year. Many farmers are applying a rye cover crop on their harvested fields and are picking up irrigation pipe. Gary Guida, Worcester: Just a beautiful week! Consumer demand of sweet corm exceeding field production! Pumpkins, and all fall squash have been harvested. Still picking summer crops, but cucumbers have had it. Big weekend for mums and fall decorations as well. Chopping corn, plastic removal, and applying cover crop were primary farm activities. U-pik apple farms were swamped this weekend. NEW HAMPSHIRE - Amy Ouellette (Ext), Belknap: It was a beautiful week for field work. Apple harvest is going along nicely, with McIntosh, Gala, Cortland, Honeycrisp and more being picked. Vegetable harvests continue, as frost has not visited yet. Pastures are in very good shape. Farms and garden centers are busy selling pumpkins, mums, corn stalks, late season vegetables, apples and cider. Tina Savage (Ext), Carroll: Leaves are turning, pumpkins and mums selling briskly at the farm stands. We're having some of the best weather of the season in some cases, too little too late! Corn chopping beginning almost everywhere, field corn looks good, if a bit late. Carl Majewski (Ext), Cheshire: A solid week of dry, sunny weather. The big push has begun with chopping corn, and producers have been able to make lots of progress with the good weather. Others continue to work at harvesting third cut hay or baleage. Vegetables have slowed down, but there's still plenty available at farm stands. Apple harvest continues, lots of great days for PYO. Steve Turaj (Ext), Coos: Warmer, generally drier weather this week has farmers putting up rowen whenever they can to make up for what's been a difficult hay year. Some field corn being opened up, but no harvesting in earnest as farms look for corn to put on more maturity. Extensive corn maturity checks, yield estimate weighting throughout county with FSA shows corn generally at one-quarter to one-half stage. Annual grasses seem to have been most troubling weeds in corn fields this year. Mums, pumpkins, and sweet corn are quite available at farm stands/market. Steve Schmidt (FSA), Grafton: Early planted corn is looking good. Corn planted in latter part of May are looking better as each week passes without a frost. Fourth cut hay is coming in. Looks like an average year for apples with fairly decent size and good quality. George Hamilton (Ext), Hillsborough: Great weather and good demand for all vegetable continues. Harvesting wide array of vegetables, including warm season vegetables like tomatoes and peppers. Harvesting cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, winter squash and pumpkins. Farmers kept busy disking, cleaning up and planting cover crops on harvested fields. Fruit: Apple harvest is in full swing with most growers concentrating on second picking McIntosh and Gala apples, and working on Cortland and Macoun. Fruit size is excellent, but bruising can be a problem and some orchardists seeing some apple drop. Fall raspberries and pear harvest continued with peach and plum harvest basically over. Field Crops: Field corn harvest in full swing along with second and third cuts of hay and hayage. Some manure spreading on fields taking place and cover crops were being planted in harvested fields. John Porter (Ext), Merrimack: Pumpkin harvest is in full swing. Many consumers hit the stands this weekend for fall harvest and entertainment. Corn for silage has started being cut and looks to be of good quality. Nada Haddad (Ext), Rockingham: Good weekend weather for apple picking. Apple orchards quite busy with customers. Winter squashes, fall raspberries, sweet corn and an array of vegetables are being harvested. Pumpkins, decorative kales and mum sales are going well. Pastures look good and haying being done. Harvesting corn silage. Some vegetable fields are being cleaned, plowed, disked. Lime being applied. Pam Marvin (FSA), Sullivan: What a great week for field work. Lots of silage being harvested along with second and third cuttings of hay. The last of summer vegetables are being harvested. Was a great year for most. Good reports from apple producers on this year's crop. Geoffrey Njue (Ext), Strafford: Farmers making 3rd cut hay and haylage and harvesting silage corn. Fruit growers busy harvesting different varieties of apples and fall raspberries. Harvest of pumpkins and various vegetable crops continued through the week. Fall mum sales in garden centers and cut flower sales in many farm stands. RHODE ISLAND - Karen Menezes (Ext), Newport: A good week, still getting some potatoes out of the ground. Pumpkins, gourds, sweet corn, field corn all being harvested. Hard squash along with summer vegetables look good. Roadside stands are full of Autumn fare. VERMONT - John St. Onge/Kim Peterson (FSA), Lamoille: Dry week made for great harvest conditions for both corn and grass. Corn yields appear to be average or slightly below average. Perley Sparrow (FSA), Windham: Last week was the most perfect week all summer, hot and dry. Corn harvest is at a rapid pace with all the good weather. Apple picking is about two-thirds completed to date with a excellent crop. Drying hay last week was the best all year. Rye is being broadcast and harrowed in along with manure on corn fields. Jeff Carter (Ext), Addison: Finishing chopping third cut grass and alfalfa haylage. Some baled grass hay. Baling grass bedding. Chopping corn silage. Some manure spreading on hay fields. Dennis Kauppila (Ext), Caledonia: This was about the best week of the year for sun, no rain and warm temperatures. Still no killing frost, but plants are shutting down. Farmers chopping corn and finishing up the haying, spreading manure- ground conditions are very soft on heavier soils. Leaves are beginning to show some color, towns in this area have their fall foliage festivals this week. Sherwin Williams, Rutland: Winter rye turning fields into a nice green color, potato harvesting in full swing with a good crop. Sweet corn nearly done. Fall season starting with lots of fall produce. Cabbage, broccoli, potatoes and turnips. Market full of fall decorations pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn and corn stalks it is the season. Fall is here. Reporters are from: Extension Service (Ext), Farm Service Agency(FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), or other knowledgeable individuals. -- Contact Information To receive this report, send an e-mail message to listserv@newsbox.usda.gov and in the body, type subscribe usda-new-eng-crop-weather Statistician: Dianne Johnson Stat Assistant: Lynne Arsenault Deputy Director: Joe Samson New England Agricultural Statistics Service National Agricultural Statistics Service United States Department of Agriculture Aubrey R. Davis, Director 22 Bridge St, 3rd Floor PO Box 1444 Concord, NH 03302-1444 Phone: (603) 224-9639 Fax: (603) 225-1434 Internet: http://www.usda.gov/nass/ E-Mail: nass.nh@nass.usda.gov ****************** end of report ***********************